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Nik Stauskas blames self for loss to Indiana, says he can 'be a positive influence for this team'

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Michigan Nik Stauskas flashes three fingers after hitting a 3-pointer in the Wolverines' 79-50 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night at Crisler Center. It was the sophomore guard's lone field goal of the game in a nine-point, eight-assist outing.
(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- Nik Stauskas converted one field goal in Michigan’s loss at Indiana over the weekend. The world was ending.

Stauskas converted one field goal in a win over Nebraska on Wednesday. His game was evolving.

Amazing how a win and eight assists can shift perception.

Standing content following his second straight single-digit outing, Stauskas smiled Wednesday and said, "(If defenses are) going to try to limit my amount of touches, my amount of shots, I’m OK with it. If I take three shots and we win by 40 every game that’s better than having a close game and me taking 15, 20 shots. So I ride with it."

Being hounded by Indiana's Yogi Ferrell on Sunday, Stauskas hit 1-of-6 shots, missed his two 3-point attempts, and finished with one assist in 35 minutes.

The Wolverines' leading scorer was a non-factor.

On Wednesday, Stauskas finished 1-for-3 from the field, all were 3s, made six free throws, handed out eight assists, grabbed five rebounds and defended Nebraska's top scorer for 34 minutes.

Similar shooting stat lines; two very different performances.

"I think I was the main reason why we lost (the Indiana) game," Stauskas said Wednesday. "Obviously we made a lot of mistakes, but my scoring was definitely missed. I take that personally and today was a great opportunity for me to come back show that I can be a positive influence for this team."

And he did it without scoring.

Nebraska "bracketed" Stauskas with two defenders when he worked off ball screens, crowding his every move. The Huskers didn't face-guard him like Indiana did so effectively, enabling him to have more space to at least catch the ball and react.

Thanks to that, Stauskas could draw defenders in and find open teammates.

"I was hoping he’d shoot a few more, actually," Beilein said. "But when Nik doesn’t feel that shot, he doesn’t shoot it very often. He usually has a real good feel for it. If he’s not feeling it, he looks for his teammates."

"I don’t think we ran as many sets just to put me in ballscreens," Stauskas said. "I was fine with that because other guys were getting open looks off the plays we were running."

"I’m never going to be a player that forces shots," Stauskas said. "If my teammates are open, I’m going to find them. A lot of time (Nebraska) was trapping on ballscreens so I wasn’t going to force anything. I was going to find the open man."

He guarded Nebraska's Terran Petteway on the other end of the floor. The 6-foot-6 sophomore guard entered the night leading the Big Ten in scoring in conference games at 19.5 points per game.

Chased by Stauskas, Petteway was held to 2-of-10 shooting and five points. Michigan (17-5, 9-1 Big Ten) got the better of the battle.

"That was the matchup all day long," Beilein said.

The next matchup will be at No. 17 Iowa (17-6, 6-4) on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, TV: ESPN).

The last time Stauskas met the Hawkeyes, he torched them for 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-9 3-pointers. Michigan won, 75-67.

Perhaps Iowa coach Fran McCaffery might take a look at the game film from Stauskas' last two games, no?

If face-guarded and hounded, Stauskas said, he's "learning new ways to get around that."

It's no secret anymore.

"Teams are going to play me that way," Staukas said.

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com